squeaky.stow

Love the Lynx, Flightstream 210 and GI275. Everything I need and nothing I don’t. And a little more useful load.

After

Before

201er, I had to respond because your post really cheered me up after a week of lousy news. I really enjoyed your story and your video. 2 comments. First, congratulations on making lemonade out of lemons. COVID has kicked the crap out of society in general and aviation in particular. Instead of getting depressed about it, you figured out a way to have an adventure that you will never be able to do again once the airline traffic comes back. Secondly, kudos on the professional job you did in preparation and execution. There have been some tragic news stories recently with GA pilots that make us all look bad. Most of them involve poor preparation and planning and accepting unnecessary risks. You had a well prepared plan to mitigate risks and that allowed a very busy flight to go smoothly and safely. Proof of that was that your wife was obviously enjoying herself. Well done! Hopefully your video will be a good example to others. And congratulations on that beautiful little baby!

Does your J have the faired wingtip covers with the plastic lense for the strobe and nav lights? If so it complicates the installation but @floridaflyer has done it. For the Tailbeacon, if your tail light is a white nav light it should be easy. On my K model it is a strobe, and uAvionics told me they have no plans to make a strobe version which ruled that option out for me.

Update. Got my plane back today with all of the little snags from the installation fixed. The GI275 can display Nav/Loc data from an analog source like the KX155, but only if it is configured as an HSI or CDI (or MFD). As a Standby ADI it can only display digital CDI information from my 530. So I had to keep my KI209 for redundancy. The good news is that I can still have Traffic, Terrain, Map and MFD data pages with the Standby ADI configuration. I was so busy playing with all the new stuff that I forgot to take pictures. MTF.

While I think of it, @Rmag you have some relevant experience with GI275 installations. Any comments?

Right now mine is configured in Standby ADI/MFD mode. This includes pages for ADI, CDI, HSI, HSI/Map, Traffic, Terrain, Map, and an MFD Data page that has 7 fields of data that are user-programmed. All that extra stuff is what sold me on the GI275 over cheaper alternatives. I sure don’t want to lose that. I had originally planned to install a used Sandia Quattro that I bought here on MS as my Standby ADI but we all know that story..... BTW, anybody want to buy a Sandia Quattro? ;-)

Hi Pete, Thanks for the reply. A very similar set up to mine other than the nicer and newer NavComs. WRT your bullet points: The Aspen is my primary map display but the GI275 Map also displays my FP from my 530W which I really like. It's better than the Aspen Map. Since you have a GTN and GNC, you probably wont need this. Aspen Synthetic Vision has to be selected on for every flight. It always defaults back to the normal display on shutdown. Frankly I find the SV on the Aspen pretty "meh" due to the narrow FOV. It doesn't do much for my SA so I often forget to turn it on until halfway through the flight. The Safe Taxi mode of the GI Map display, on the other hand, is really useful for those times that I am looking up something else on the iPad like an FBO frequency and don't have the taxi chart up. I went with a Lynx 9000D+ for traffic. It will not display on the GI275. But Active Traffic is way cool. Especially up here in Canada where few GA aircraft have ADSB. Good luck with the installation. Mark

Thanks Don, (It's Mark BTW, not Paul) My KX155 was already connected to the KI209 and the Aspen so I am pretty sure it should be capable of displaying on the GI if I remove the KI209. My original plan was to keep the KI209 on the logic that if the Aspen failed, I would need the GI275 as my ADI and I would not be able to view the CDI/GS indications. Then I learned that the main ADI display on the GI275 can also show CDI and GS indications so I thought, why not use them and get rid of the KI209? I am hoping that one of the avionics installers that frequent this forum and have installed GI275s could help answer this. Maybe @Jesse Saint or @Baker Avionics? The second, and bigger question to be resolved is whether I can still access the Map, HSI and other cool features of this device when it is configured as a Standby ADI. My shop initially told me that I could, which is why I agreed to this upgrade (more on that later), but now they are saying that it is "supposed to remain in Standby ADI mode". With multiple Garmin displays, there is a reversion switch included. In the Auto position it will switch the GI back to ADI mode if the primary ADI fails. If that doesn't work, you can select the switch to On and accomplish the same thing. My shop says the GI has no way to know if the Aspen has failed so the GI can't switch automatically. When I read the STC however, it is not clear that it must be locked in ADI mode, especially since it is only one twist of the control knob away at any time. So what I need to determine is: 1) Is there a way to have the GI275 automatically switch to ADI mode if the Aspen fails?, and 2) Is this required by the STC in order to be able to use the other features? Cheers, Mark

Just had a GI275 installed as a standby ADI. My primary ADI/HSI is an Aspen. Garmin’s website says the GI275 is capable of receiving two VHF Nav sources and 2 GPS Nav sources in CDI and HSI mode and you can select the source you wish to display with a soft key. Website also says that my GNS 530W and my KX155 are compatible sources for the VHF Nav signal. Both sources currently display on the Aspen and the KX155 also displays on a KI209. I would like to remove the KI209 and display at least the KX155 data on the GI275. Ideally I would also like to display the 530 Nav data as well. My avionics shop says I can’t have both the Aspen and GI275 display Nav data (VOR/LOC/GS). Does that make sense? Any avionics expertise would be appreciated. Sorry I don’t have any panel-porn pics to share yet. Airplane is still in the shop.

Just listed on BT. Make me an offer before they fly off the shelves!

Looks like some time between 1984 and 1994, Mooney (or the annunciator OEM) figured out that this was a pretty poor design. A warning light that can’t be tested, and doesn’t ever illuminate in normal operations is kind of useless. If it is working it might give you enough warning to save your starter. If it is not working, by the time you figure that out, the damage is already done. A little late at that point. The 94 design makes a lot more sense. A light that illuminates every time you crank the starter gets tested on every start.

Stephen, Best of luck to you and your family. If you are looking for an affordable entry level trailerable sailboat, check out the MacGregor 26. There are lots of them on the used market. I have had one for ten years and love it. Water ballast makes it light for trailering but still stable on the water. Big outboard means you can run for home at 20 knots if a big storm pops up and you don’t want to scare the wife. Two can comfortably overnight on it. 4 gets cozy. Happy to share more details if you are interested. Just like Mooneyspace, there is a large community that share their expertise. https://www.macgregorsailors.com

.....or maybe I just made the same mistake myself, including the hours of troubleshooting. But don’t tell anyone on Mooneyspace. Let’s go with the genius thing! And Happy New Year!

@Glen Davis Check chapter 7 of your POH. It is probably the same as the K. The Starter Engaged light is the only annunciator light that does not light up during the press-to-test. Checking the bulb is easy. You can slide them out by hand and swap with another location in the annunciator panel.

@Rmag Thanks for these. You should be asking Garmin for a commission. My avionics shop was pitching the GI275 to me as a backup ADI for my Aspen. I was on the fence due to the cost. They sent me a YouTube link to your Standby ADI video and it clinched it for me. I am so impressed with how much capability is packed into this little device.

EDIT These are going on Ebay tomorrow for whatever someone will give me for them. I would prefer to sell them to a Mooneyspacer but there is not a big market for these remaining items. Anyone? My 252 just underwent a panel upgrade. Shipping estimates available with zip code. I have looked at average eBay prices and knocked off 30-50%. Prices in $US. All items are 28V. All parts working well when removed, so don’t be scared away by the “Repairable” on the tag. That just indicates it is not scrapped or condemned. If it doesn’t work I will refund full purchase price. 1) KEA 346. Altimeter installed new in 2017 $2500 SOLD 2) KRA10A Radar Altimeter with indicator, transmitter/receiver and antenna. $2500 SOLD 3) KT79 transponder with tray and connectors. $200 $50 OBO 4) RC Allen RCA26BK-9 28V Standby Attitude Indicator $300 SOLD 5) RC Allen ESP Battery Backup system for the above. Battery new in 2020. $300 SOLD 6) Ryan TCAD ATS8000 with transponder coupler and tray. (See panel picture) Poor-man’s Active Traffic system. Alerts you to all Mode C traffic (not just ADS-B) with range and relative altitude, but not azimuth. $200 $50 OBO PM if you need more details.

Is the clock 14 or 28v?

When I had my tanks re-sealed by Paul Beck at WeepNoMore he inspected my long range tanks and pronounced the sealant “just like brand new” which saved me a bunch of money. If memory serves, they were about 15 years old at that time and hardly ever had fuel in them. I would say that sealant life is not a concern.

Woohoo! I can be taught!

Thanks Anthony, So would it be revealing trade secrets if you told us how you do that? Do you have to use a laptop, or is there a way to fix picture orientation on the iPad? Cheers, Mark

Hi Joe, In portrait orientation you have two options for the display. One gives you up to ten fields to display in the right side column but the trade-off is a narrower EGT/CHT display with only the digits for CHT displayed. The other gives you only five fields in the right column but a wider EGT/CHT display with both digits shown. Section 14 of the manual provides some guidance on how to set it up but it is not the most helpful manual I have used. Standing by for @carusoam to correct my crappy photo editing..... Good luck, Mark

Glen, I am not an engineer, just a pilot, so take this for what it is worth, which ain’t much. While not a perfect analogy, I like to think of the propeller governor as being similar to the transmission in your car. Its job is to translate engine torque into thrust. A fixed pitch prop is like a car with only one gear. In the bush plane world you will hear of “climb props” and “cruise props” which is like having a car with only first gear or only 4th gear. With a constant speed prop, we have the equivalent a CVT transmission except that it is not automatically controlled. Takeoff and climb are done in a low gear to allow the engine to get to maximum rpm and thus maximum power. Cruise is all about miles per gallon most of the time, so you want to shift into a high gear and get the engine running at a fuel efficient lower rpm. If you try to shift into 5th while still at 30 mph on the highway on-ramp, it would be pretty hard on your engine. That would be like pulling back the prop rpm while climbing at full throttle. But once you are established at cruise speed, lower rpm should equal more miles per gallon. However there are limits to this. If we could keep shifting to higher and higher gears on the highway, forcing our engine to turn over at slower and slower rpm to maintain 60mph, it would eventually generate too little horsepower to maintain highway speed. Or it might start detonating as we press harder on the gas pedal trying to maintain that power. That’s where the POH comes in. In my airplane, at max continuous cruise power I am restricted to an RPM of no lower than 2400, but at 65% power I can dial it back to 2200. In other words, the engine manufacturer doesn’t want me using 5th or 6th gear at high power settings, but once I dial it back to lower power, I can use whatever gear I want, with 6th gear being the quietest and most mpg. Also worth noting that even though my POH is written as if I had a six speed transmission with corresponding MPs to maintain xx% power for each “gear” (2700, 2600, 2500, 2400, 2300 & 2200rpm), in reality my “CVT” will allow me to choose 2437 rpm or whatever I like. My engine monitor will tell me what percentage power that is and if my cylinder temps are happy, then I am happy. Regards, Mark

Thanks Skip, Exactly the advice I needed. Now off to the hardware store......